the valley - squarespace
TRANSCRIPT
THE VALLEYR i s h i V a l l e y S c h o o l - New s l e t t e r
J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
1 - FAMILY DAY
2 - F IELD TR IP
Upcoming Schoo l
Events & News
On October 14th, just as the school closed for the winter break, seven students and two teachers went on a short
birdwatching tour to the Point Calimere Sanctuary, located in the Nagapattinam district of Tamilnadu. Known for
harbouring wintering birds like large wading birds such as flamingoes and shorebirds of several species, besides being
located on the migratory route of several thousands of other migrants, winging their way to Sri Lanka, Point Calimere has
been a favourite destination for birdwatchers from all over the country. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) had for
decades using this sanctuary to ring migrants as a part of their Bird Migration programme.
This visit enabled us to experience first-hand, bird ringing conducted by Dr S. Balachandran, deputy director of BNHS, a
seasoned ornithologist, based there. Over the 3-day stay, we witnessed ringing of over 90 individuals of birds in the BNHS
Bird migration station, located there. These included the uncommon birds like the Red-necked Phalarope, Broadbilled
Sandpiper and the Philippine Shrike. Dr Balachandran explained to our students the differences between similar-looking
waders like the plovers and stints, besides familiarising them with the protocols of bird ringing which included collection
of measurements of the bird (length of beak, tarsus, wing and tail feathers, its weight). Examing a wild bird in hand was a
really thrilling experience for our students. Apart from participating in the ringing exercises, we also visited the Sanctuary
as well as the Salt pans and the lagoon and recorded over 90 species of birds including Peafowl, flamingoes, pelicans,
storks, gulls and terns. The wildlife seen included Blackbuck, Spotted deer, wild boar, feral ponies, mudskippers etc. We
also made a brief visit to the Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary in the adjoining Thiruvarur district where over 10,000 water birds
congregated to roost (and nest) on the trees in the freshwater tank. On our return journey we stopped at the Veeranam
Lake on the outskirts of Chidambaram town and again were astonished to see a large roost of waterbirds, easily numbering
10,000 birds. We are grateful to Dr Balachandran and his team for hosting our group at the BNHS Bird Migration Centre at
point Calimere and for his patience in explaining the bird ringing procedures.
There is no end toeducation. It is not thatyou read a book, passan examination andfinish with education.The whole of life, fromthe moment you areborn to the moment you die, is a process oflearning. J Krishnamurti
Bird Migration and Ringing at Point Calimere
The senior students of Oakgrove
school, all the way from Ojai,
California arrived at Rishi Valley on a
sunday before the New Year 2020.
After their misadventures with
luggage and mix up of dates they
finally settled in. The group consisted
of four seniors –Geetanjali, Luna,
Natasha and Jane along with their
staff. They spent a week in school,
interacting with students and staff
and left for Valley School, Bangalore
and Patashala School near Chennai.
The Oakgrove students interacted
mostly with Class 11 and even had the
opportunity to attend classes with
them. The interactions consisted of
an exchange of questions where
knowledge about both schools were
passed around. They also visited the
Rural Health Centre and the Rural
Education Centre. They were quite
moved by these experiences and
expressed a desire that they would
like to come and help out in the
future. They were fascinated to see
India as they were visiting the country
for the first time—they enjoyed both
the cuisine and the culture. They
especially liked the dosa and ate it
with gusto. They also explored the
valley when the went on a hike to
Krishnamurti Sagar Dam with some
teachers and a few students.
We learnt a lot about their school and
about American system of education
from them. Apart from the formal
sessions, we also talked about their
lives, dreams and aspirations. They
joined us for folkie, treasure hunt, the
new year party and the quiz. They
also helped in setting up some games
—we learnt a couple of good ones
from them.
They gave an assembly starting with a
moment of silence (as they do in their
school) and moved on to introduce
themselves and perform a dance that
was choreographed by
ANNUAL V IS IT
WELCOME OAKGROVE !
one of them. After the jolly
performance, they sang songs -
‘Treehouse’ and ‘Here Comes The
Sun’ and a questioning session
started. They answered queries and
profusely thanked us for being very
welcoming.
By the end of a week, we formed a
bond with them by frequently
conversing over meals and classes.
They also had the chance to spend a
night at Girls Hostel and we played
fun games and got to know each
other even better. By the next
morning (which was also the
morning of their departure), a
concrete friendship was formed and
promises of future contact was
made. They also invited us to visit
Oakgrove.
They throughly enjoyed their
experience and were extremely
happy with all the discussions,
activities and events. They left with
happy memories, more than a
dozen mosquito bites and the vow
to come back to visit the school and
India.
Adithi
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
A beautiful November at Oak Grove School
JR MUSICAL
EVENING
The junior classes brought forth
their best talent as they
performed in the junior musical
evening celebrations.
It was hosted by class 9 who had
the audience on their toes with
their brilliant puns and jokes.
They kept them laughing for
days! The juniors themselves put
up a marvellous spectacle as
they sang from their hearts. The
songs were mostly regional and
were well chosen to suit the
occasion.
A few memorable hits were the
class and house songs. The
group songs were also well
performed with new faces
singing new songs.
The instruments including
guitars were also beautifully
played by the students.
The teachers also gave their best
with their rendition of an old
Hindi song that left everyone
starstruck. Overall, the event
along with a special dinner left
the children bright and happy
for the night ahead.
Jingle Bells
The seaason’s festivities was
heralded by junior students theme
based decorations of their hostels.
Class 11 brought forth the carols
with high spirits. On christmas eve,
all the students and teachers
toured the valley to catch a
glimpse of the beautiful
decorations put up. Each junior
house featured a special theme
that had been captured by the
ornaments and slogans displayed
in their commen rooms. Raavi
house had a glittery EDM oriented
decoration scheme with tributes to
DJ’s and even a disco fan! Neem
house brought out the Jewish
holiday Hannukha with soft yellow
candlelights and the twelve
candles symbolic of the holiday.
Silver house took a summery tone
with christmas on the beach. They
had pictures of sunsets and waves
and even an awareness corner,
making it seem as though
christmas is better at the beach.
Golden house incorporated social
media into the holiday by having a
‘World Wide Web’ theme which
featured many aspects of the
internet. Palm house had a sports
themed christmas with posters
and jerseys of their favorite sports
stars hung up. Meru and Nilgiri
house had a musical christmas
showcasing facts and the history of
music.
Girls hostel along with Malli and
Takshila adorned their house with
lights, candles and a christmas tree
to bring out their overflowing
christmas joy. Malli house even had
a sock corner where gifts could be
put into hung socks.
Class 11 begann carolling from the
junor hostels, going from Raavi to
CELEBRATIONS
Malli and spreading cheer through
lyrical carols. Santa Claus was
holly and jolly and was ringing a
bell to announce her arrival. They
then proceeded to Radhika akka
and Geeta akka’s houses while
collecting smiles and getting
treats on the way. They were
joined by the alumni of the school
and a few teachers including Valli
akka and Rajan sir. After visiting
the remaining hostels (girls and
boys), they retired around 12:00
AM. Christmas was well spent by
the students and everyone slept
with bright hearts full of
Christmas cheer.
Adithi
New Year’s Eve 2019
On 31st december 2019, the Valley
was in quite a celebratory mood.
The day began with the new year’s
quiz organised by the 9th
standard, followed by a busy
afternoon where juniors took part
in social games and scavenger
hunt organised by the 10th, and a
treasure hunt organised by the
11th. Overall, it was an exhausting
afternoon, but enjoyable
nevertheless for the entire school,
as the spirits were soaring.
That night, students and teachers
alike set their worries aside,
bundled themselves up in layers
of winter clothes, and headed for
the new years eve celebrations.
After eating their fill at a
sumptious dinner prepared by the
dining hall, the juniors settled
down to watch the much
anticipated spiderman movie,
while seniors and a majority of the
teachers made their way to the
senior auditorium.
This years new year’s party
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
organised by grade 11, began with
an array of games and activities
organised by the students. Such as
‘Limbo’, ‘Ring Toss’ and bowling.
People thronged from stall to stall,
trying their hand at games of their
choice, while upbeat music blared
on the speakers. An hour and a half
into the evening, 9th and 10th
grade went for a night walk with
their respective class teachers,
while the remaining students and
teachers continued in the
auditorium, and played a few more
games.
Many students and teachers left
behind their inhibitions, and went
on stage to participate in karaoke,
while the audience sang along and
cheered them on. Songs like ‘We
Are The Champions’ by Queen
‘Afghan Jalebi, and ‘Country Roads’
were some of the favourites, and
almost everyone sang along with
much enthusiasm!
Then, the lights were dimmed and
the music began, and the most
popular ‘Folkie’ dances took place.
Under scores of strings of pink and
blue lights, everyone danced their
feet out, while some of the
students and faculty of Oak Grove
School tried their hands at the
dances too. Although Folkie takes
place every weekend, there was
something special about dancing
together on New Year’s Eve. After
folkie we played a few more fun
games -- the night was cold, but all
the running around left everyone
warmed up.
Then, with hot glasses of coffee and
chocolate fudge, people settled
down around the bonfire. Under
the soft glow of the fire, slow songs
were sung accompanied by a
guitar. At the stroke of midnight
people rushed to wish each other.
What better way to end yet another
year and decade, than being
surrounded by the happy smiling
faces?
The Tuesday Junior SchoolAssemblies are mostly teacher
assemblies that are attended by
students from Prep to Class 7.
Tanuj Sir started the term by
speaking of some dos and don’ts,
mainly about the need to be
prepared in different ways before
the teacher arrives in the class.
Derek treated us to a beautiful
story with his trademark sentence,
“...and he walked and he walked
and he walked”. In addition to his
own special music he had with
him a friend, Mike, who
accompanied him on the base
guitar lending an ethereal quality
to the experience.
Ranjit Sir gave an assembly of
building a story simply through
postures and guided by individual
interpretation.
Geeta Akka’s assembly on Xmas
Eve was about the Christmas spirit
very beautifully brought out
through a story of Dr Seuss.
Meenakshi Akka introduced
herself and spoke about her
involvement with Rishi Valley
which has gone through three
stages in her life, first as a student,
then a parent and now as Director
of the school.
On Pongal there was a celebratory
air to the assembly. The junior
auditorium was decorated in
traditional style and teachers
spoke about what Makara
Sankranti means back in their
native place. Teachers sang
regional songs relating to the
occasion and Joshi Sir chanted
mantras dedicated to the sun.
ASSEMBLY CORNER
Sonali Akka spoke about the
music of Cuba and gave a
background to its history and
culture which shows up in the
various types of music played
there. She played songs of four
musicians.
In the Thursday Junior SchoolAssemblies, the magical space in
front of the Prep section becomes
a beehive of various presentations
by the students of Prep to class 6.
There was a short skit in English
by the class 5 students and
recitation of English poetry by
class 4 and 6 students.
There was a Taekwondodemonstration by Induvadana of
class 6B. Children read out
interesting facts about this martial
art form.
Keeping in focus the diversity
within the school, regional
language poems was recited by
teachers and students.
There were two sessions of the
rather breathless JAM (Just a
minute) and its younger sibling
HAM (Half a minute) in which
students of class 4, 5 and 6 tried
their impromptu story telling
skills.
Some keen discussions have taken
place in Thursday Middle SchoolAssemblies this term by the Class
7 and 8 students.
Ahaan and Bilva of class 7
presented an assembly on Greta
Thunberg. They talked about her
journey so far, her vision for the
planet and her plans for action in
the near future.
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
Prajna and Ashra of Class 7
presented an assembly on M.F.
Husain. They talked about his life
and career and described a few of
his paintings in detail.
Naail, Devesh and Jidvish of class
8 spoke about the genre of
electronic music, its history,
evolution and current status.
Saturday Junior SchoolAssemblies this term had a spread
of regional language stories, poetry
and songs, presented by teachers
and students of the various states
of India.
On two occasions we got to see the
rich diversity of languages and
cultures that exists in the school.
Konkani, Oriya, Marathi, Nepali,
Kumaoni, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam, Sanskrit, Asamia,
Bangla, Manipuri, Gujarati, Punjabi
and Garhwali were
represented.
The children were shown video
clips by Sai Jagan Sir, of the
gymnast Olga Korbut and the
legendary Ice Skating couple
Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina
Gordeeva.
JUNIOR AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS
SENIOR SCHOOL
Tashi did first student assembly of
the term on various forms of
bullying. He explored both the
victim’s and bully’s psychology in
each case, and concluded with
sharing various solutions.
Vanya’s assembly was on CHIRAG,
a NGO in Uttrakhand she used to
go to. CHIRAG (Central Himalayan
Rural Action Group) deals with
primary education in remote rural
areas of Uttrakhand.
Abeni’s assembly was on a NGO
she visited in Tanzania which
works on waterconservation. She
talked about the interactions she
had with the Maasi tribe.
Kirtana and Sanjushree spoke on
modern art. They showed various
pictures of different artists through
the initial years of this artistic
movement. The artists whose work
they showed included legends like
Piccasso. They also touched upon
our perception of ‘good’ art by
slipping a piece drawn by
Sanjushree in the presentation
which managed to elicit a long
drawn wow of greater intensity
than other artists in the slideshow.
Raavee and Anshika dwelt on
abortion and the legalities
concerning it. They provided an
unbiased opinion with reasons
both for and against abortion. They
also talked about the issues faced
by women regarding
contraception and abortion.
Bharati’s assembly was on the
book Nudge. She talked about
fallacies and biases and the 2
systems of thinking (autonomic
and reflective) in human behaviour
and ways to nudge people to do
the right thing in subtle ways.
Safdar shared a few aspects of the
ancient Egyptian civilisation - few
characteristics of their culture, and
their mythology.
Sanan and Sanjula spoke about
critical thinking, and how to verify
the authenticity of a claim, at a
time when it is quite necessary.
ASSEMBLY CORNER (CONTINUED)
Xara and Abeni spoke about
growing islamophobia around he
world with focus on India. They
talked about the recent
developments in the country’s
situation and
the change in the constitution
and what it means for Indians.
Shoneq and Madhura, presented
a brief overview and history of the
Baul music prevalent in West
Bengal. They performed a baul
song ‘kichu din mone mone’, and
displayed some Baul instruments.
Ayaan portrayed a shocking,
revealing and informative picture
of Big Data and Analytics, focusing
on Cambridge Analytica in
particular. He warned how our
data is now a commodity, and
described a few steps we can take
in order to guard against targeted
media and leave a smaller digital
footprint.
Vivek brought up the topic of
ghettoization, both religious and
racial, demonstrating the power of
simple models to predict complex
phenomenon with an open source
modelling software. Dance
Assembly by
Eksheka and Sanjula displayed
varanam (colours) -- words cannot
describe the performance.
Kumaraswamy Sir played
classical music from China that
has few lines of lyrics and
primarily consisted of string
instruments. His reason for taking
the assembly (quite rightly) was
that students usually listen to only
limited genres of music.
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
Dr. Meenakshi Thapan presented
her views on the current
controversy of the CAA. She
explained it in a way that made it
accessible to students.
Rahee Akka spoke on the
importance of literature in today’s
society. She recited a touching and
evocative poem which resonates
with today’s problems, and
concluded by playing a song by
Bob Dylan.
Santharam Sir presented a
slideshow of bird photographs, this
time featuring birds from Sayadhri
school.
Derek, the much-loved storyteller
visited with a friend Mike, who is
an eminent jazz guitarist and
complemented his storytelling
brilliantly. He had a new Scottish
folk tale to tell this time.
Sai Sir used the opportunity of
Ramanujan’s birthday to extend
students’ horizons on mathematics,
presenting what is widely
considered his most beautiful
formula. He also touched upon the
Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
The Drama Club showed a video
and performed too to illustrate the
concept of physical theatre. It was
a forerunner to their upcoming
production, which depended
heavily on this.
Siddhartha Menon Sir who was on
a visit introduced the students to
few interesting aspects of life at
Rajghat Besant School, with his
own poetry to better capture the
emotions associated with the
place. Topics included the
biodiversity, the Ganga, and the
weather, in admittedly British
fashion.
SENIOR SCHOOL
All of us love sports either love to
watch it or love to play it. But do
we know the meaning of sports. Do
we know what sports is? Sports is a
vast subject and for different
sports there are different rules and
regulations, but what is common
to all of them?
Sports is Teamwork and TeamSpirit: even in individual sports a
person is capable of doing things
because of many factors helping
him. Self confidence: without self
confidence neither can we achieve
what we want nor love what we
are doing. Passion anddedication: these two go together.
Talent: this isn’t something
everyone has but can achieve if
they work very hard. Belief inyourself: no one can help you if
you don’t believe in yourself and
don’t help yourself.
Sports isn’t just about playing, it is
about feeling the game and
enjoying every bit of it. In Rishi
Valley we have a nice sports
system for both girls and boys. We
play sports like football, basketball,
volleyball, handball, cricket, tennis,
and badminton. We have
something called seasons which is
a way to divide these sports and
each season lasts for two to three
weeks.
We just had Cricket season for boys
and Basketball season for girls.
Girls had two Basketball externals -
- one was in Rishivalley and the
other was in Madanapalle. Rishi
valley team won both the matches
and the score was 30/10 for the
first match and 52/16 for the
second match. Rhea Rose scored
the most number of baskets.
SPORTS SCENE THIS TERM
The boys they had two externals
and one staff vs student match. In
the staff vs student match
students won with a score of (124
/123) and the highest scorer was
Prabhakar sir (22 runs in 24 balls)
and Jayesh (43 runs in 46 balls).
The first external was against
Valyalpad which was won by
Valyalpad with a score of (144/131).
The highest scorers for this match
were Malleshan (58 runs in 42
balls) and Rishi (66 runs in 52
balls). The last external was played
by the junior team against the
junior team of Valyalpad. This
match was won by Rishi Valley
team with a score of (118/115). In
this match the highest scorers
were Delhi Babu (28 runs in 48
balls) and Ahaan (29 runs in 53
balls).
Now we have football season for
boys and handball season for girls.
And after that we will have
football for girls and basketball for
boys. Apart from these sports if
people want to any other sports
such as volleyball or basketball
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
(when it is suppose to be some
other season) they can still play.
Sports quality in Rishi Valley is
perhaps falling every year
because the people who play
good either leave the school or
stop playing the sport. This is the
main issue we are facing today,
even if the juniors are learning
they can’t be replaced by the
people who left because they
don’t have the interest and that
dedication to play. They may be
good but their match looks very
dull and sad. This is the only
thing we have to improve in our
system. We need to give sports
equal importance as we give to
any other thing. It may be easy to
study and get good marks but it
is very hard to play with others
mind thinking that what will the
opponent do if I make this move.
Otherwise we have a really good
system for sports and infact good
sports teachers too.
Shreya B
The new Tennis count
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
TRANSFIXED !BY THE ECL IPSE
In the early hours of Thursday the
26th of December, groups of
children gathered in the games
field wearing tinted glasses and
staring intently at a giant screen.
Relax readers, they weren’t
watching a 3D movie, they were
experiencing the last solar eclipse
of the decade!
This spectacular feat of nature
brought out the scientist in
everyone. Students observed the
half-moon shadows cast by the
leaves like a mosaic on the walls..
They made scientific deductions
and experimented with light. Many
observed the reactions the animals
had to this phenomenon. Dhruv,
Tharan and other 11th grade
physics students were doing their
project on this and were tracking
the darkness moving across the
sun. A junior school student and
budding scientist asked me why
bats and other nocturnal animals
weren’t getting triggered by the
sudden loss of light! It really is
true that the best way to learn
science is through nature!
Anagh sir and Karthik sir explained
the side effects of looking at the
sun without proper eye protection
goggles or solar eclipse viewing
shades during the assembly before
tinted glasses were handed out
and everyone was allowed to view
the eclipse.
Sonali akka, the junior school
Geography teacher gave us some
insight on the reactions in the
junior school: “It was a truly
magical experience! The
excitement and awe in the
students’ eyes made my day!”
Krishna
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
K TALKS
Thinking about the surroundings
and being aware of ourself is a
skill everyone should develop. It is
not easy but when you start
meditating and concentrating on
your surroundings, your body and
you start to realise many secrets
of life. Most students don’t like the
idea of meditation and
concentration.
To introduce them into this world
we have a K -talk session once i
every month on Thursday. Since
we have a large number of people
(students and teachers) we are
divided into nine groups. Every
Thursday the topic changes like
the previous group discussion was
excerpts from “This Matter of
Culture.” The second session was
several excerpts on the topic of
sensitivity. My group read a
chapter and the questions started
coming up. What is arrogance? Is
it bad or good? What ideas
Krisnhamurti ji mean by saying
“You have confidence because you
are really innocent?”
What is the difference between
confidence and arrogance? Many
people gave their views on these
questions and tried to understand
what Krishnamurti ji would have
meant. Apart from this we have a
Sunday K -talk session and these
discussions continue there and
people bring up their own
questions and we all start thinking
about them. These talks happen in
Study Centre. Life is just how we
look at it, is it? I don’t think that
because what we look at is limited
and the life on earth is unlimited.
Life is a gift given to us and we
should know how to use it
properly. Many people don’t even
know about themselves, their
culture, language and many
other things. This act of
mindfulness will only come when
we are aware of things. Life gives
us many opportunities and we
lose all of them.
Whenever I go to AIIMS I see many
people stand in the appointment
line since three in the morning
waiting for their turn and after
their appointment they have to
do certain tests like MRI and show
the report to the doctor. Now the
MRI dates AIIMS gives are after
three to four months. And they
have to wait till then ‘cause the
private ones cost a lot of money
and they don’t do it properly. So
the poor people sleep on the
footpath waiting for months and
then their treatment starts. There
is more to it than this, the biggest
is peoples’ behaviour in the
hospital and outside. It is all very
confusing and astonishing.
Humans are so complicated and
their mind set is programmed by
the way they have been taught. I
hope that we humans learn why
we are in this world for? And why
do we need to do certain things
which we do want to?
Shreya B
NEW COMMITTEE
MEMBERS
The reins of school committees
have been handed from class 12 to
class 11 with the unspoken promise
that they will provide their best
interests for it and will help make
significant contributions to the
school.
A new land care committee has
been introduced by the students
taking after fieldwork which was
present in the valley before. It is
headed by Natarajan Sir, Parita
Akka and Ramola Sir along with
student volunteers. Their aim is to
foster a spirit of community
working in the valley through
activities such as litter picking,
subabul cutting and making
compost pits. Movie committeehas started off with a bang by
showing interesting movies to the
school. They are managed by
Rahee Akka, Aniketh Sir, Parita
Akka, Tanuj Sir and Chetana Akka.
Library committee has started
supervising the library and wants
to try new ideas with the help of
Meenakshi Akka, Bijayalakshmi
Akka, Rahee akka and Krishna
Menon Sir. Assembly committeeheaded by Anagh Sir and
Nagammi Akka want to encourage
and improve the quality of
assemblies in the valley. DiningHall committee wants to bridge
the gap between staff of the
Dining hall and students. They
want to reduce food wastage and
get involved in new recipe ideas.
They are working with the Dining
hall manager , Dhanya Akka,
Rajgopal Sir and Valli Akka.
Community service committeewants to make every child perform
community service and help
prepare for school programs. They
are managed by Swati Akka,
Giridhar Sir, Vajahat Akka and Valli
akka. Sports committe aims to
make sports more inclusive with
favourable timetables, increasing
opportunities and new enjoyable
aspects to the games played. They
are closely working with Sunil Sir,
Reddy Sir and Sagai Sir. Lastly, the
Newsletter Committee aims to
revive the newsletter and bring out
monthly editions with the students
hardwork. They are aided by Jyothi
Akka and Rajesh Sir.
Adithi
Watching a movie every Saturday
has been part of life here in Rishi
Valley School and I have watched
myself grow up, waiting for
Saturdays just to watch the long
awaited movie. Entering Class 11
also has a great benefit, alternate
movies (which are the more serious
movies that are shown only to class
11 and 12) have now become
available to us. The Movie
Committee meets every week to
select a movie that meets all the
requirements to show here; it
needs to be non-mainstream,
mildly educational and enjoyable
to help students wind down at the
end of the week. This term,
students have watched 8 different
movies.
MOVIE SATURDAYS
The next week two movies were
screened; one for the junior school
students and one for the senior
school students. The juniors
watched an animated fantasy film,
The Song of the Sea about a girl,
Saoirse who is half selkie and the
adventures she goes through with
her brother, Ben who initially
doesn’t like her. The movie ends
on a happy note where Saoirse
gives up her selkie powers and
returns to live with her brother
and father. Ben and Saoirse
reconcile and become friends.
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
The senior students watched
another animated movie- The
Bread Winner. This movie
directed by Nora Twomey was
based on the best selling novel
by Deborah Ellis. Set in a Taliban
occupied Afghanistan this movie
shows the life of a young girl
named Soraya whose father was
arrested unjustly and she cuts off
her hair and transforms into a
boy- Aatish to feed her family
and get her father out of prison.
Though the movie was animated
it didn’t have any of the lightness
that accompanies animated
movies and was enjoyed by the
senior students.
The first movie we watched was
Paddington-2 a light-hearted
animated movie starring a cute
bear living in london who finds
himself in prison due to a
sequence of unfortunate events
where he is being framed for the
theft of a pop up book on London
which he wanted to buy for his
Aunt Lucy for her 100th burthday.
Directed by Paul King, this movie is
the sequel to Paddington in 2014.
This movie was thoroughly enjoyed
by the junior school students and
served as a light movie to start off
the term.
Mirai a 2018 Japanese animated
adventure fantasy movie written
and directed by Mamoru
Hosoda is about a young boy who
feels neglected after his baby
sister Mirai is born. He meets a
humanised version of his dog
Yukko, his sister grown up, his
mother as a child etc and this
changes his opinion and fully
acknowledges that he is Mirai’s
older brother. This film received
mixed reviews from the students;
the ones who were really
interested in Japanese films and
animation really enjoyed this film
where as others did not like it very
much.
The students also saw the first
alternate movie of this term,
Brooklyn. Brooklyn is a
2015 romantic historical period
drama film directed by John
Crowley and written by Nick
Hornby, based on the novel of the
same name by Colm Tóibín. It
features a young Irish immigrant
Ellis Lacey who immigrates to the
United States. Her shy and quiet
personality changes drastically
after she meets a young Itallian-
American Tony Fiorello. Their
romance becomes serious and Ellis
marries Tony before she goes back
to Ireland for her sisters funeral. In
Ireland she is faced by many
hurdles that test her love. The
movie ends with Ellis back in
Brooklyn embracing Tony.
School celebrated the Maths
Festival to commemorate Srinivas
Ramanujan’s birth anniversary.
Accordingly the movie Man Who
Knew Infinity was shown. The
Man Who Knew Infinity is a 2015
British biographical drama film
about the Indian mathemati-
cian Srinivasa Ramanujan, based
on the 1991 book of the same
name by Robert Kanigel.
At the turn of the twentieth
century, Srinivasa Ramanujan is a
struggling and indigent citizen in
the city of Madras in India working
at menial jobs at the edge of
poverty. While performing his
menial labour, his employers
notices that he seems to have
exceptional skills at mathematics
and they begin to make use of him
for rudimentary accounting tasks.
It becomes equally clear to his
employers, who are college
educated, that Ramanujan's
mathematical insights exceed the
simple accounting tasks they are
MOVIE SATURDAYS (CONTINUED)
assigning to him and soon they
encourage him to make his
personal writings in mathematics
available to the general public
and to start to contact professors
of mathematics at universities by
writing to them. One such letter is
sent to G.H. Hardy, a famous
mathematician at University of
Cambridge, who begins to take a
special interest in Ramanujan.
Upon arrival in Cambridge
Ramanujan faces discrimination
and finds life much harder in
England. Ramanujan is then
diagnosed with tuberculosis and
returns to India to spend his last
days.
PAGE 1 1
J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
nothing when her friends crush
Max's snow fort with him inside
during a snowball fight. Out of
frustration, Max messes up her
bedroom and destroys a frame he
made for her. At school, Max's
teacher teaches him and his
classmates about the eventual
death of the sun. Later his
mother, Connie, invites her
boyfriend Adrian to dinner. Max
becomes upset with his mother
for not coming to the fort he
made in his room. He wears his
wolf costume, acts like an animal,
and demands to be fed. When his
mother gets upset, he throws a
tantrum and bites her on the
shoulder. She yells at him and he
runs away, scared by what
transpired. At the edge of a pond,
Max finds a small boat that he
boards. He is met with a series of
adventures where is crowned
king of the wild things. He then
boards the boat again realising
that he is not the king anymore
and is welcomed back home by
his mother.
Yesterday is a 2019 romantic
comedy film directed by Danny
Boyle and written by Richard
Curtis, based on a story by Jack
Barth and Curtis. Jack Malik is a
struggling musician who meets
with an accident and wakes up in
a world where The Beatles never
existed. He uses the opportunity
and sings all the beatles songs as
his own. He rises to fame and
then at the peak of his career
renounces his claim to the songs
and informs the world about the
existence of the Beatles. This
movie brought back the dormant
craze for the Beatles in the valley
and now the Beatles tunes can
be heard with the calls of the
birds at all times.
Kshithija
The next movies shown were
Where the Wild Things Are for the
juniors and Yesterday for the
seniors. Where the Wild Things
Are is a 2009 fantasy drama
film directed by Spike Jonze. 8-
year-old Max, a lonely boy with an
active imagination whose parents
are divorced, is wearing
a wolf costume and chasing his
dog.His older sister, Claire, does
It was in the second term of eight
grade, the first year I had joined
that there was a great buzz in the
air; everywhere I went I heard
“today is Derek’s assembly !”
I thought to myself, “So what?”.
Upon some digging, I learned he
was a storyteller. I didn't know
what to think. Forty five minutes
later I stumble out of the senior
auditorium, my mouth open and in
a daze. My mind was still in the
land of enchanters and
enchantresses, mermaids and
mermen. Four years later I get the
opportunity to interview him, I
grab it with both hands.
Q: What got you interested instorytelling? Derek: (It beganwith like a story) Twenty eight
years ago a friend of mine, Mr
Fredriech invited me to come and
visit a school in India, The Valley
School. The director at that time
Mr Satish, who also happened to
be my friend asked me to do
something for the children: so I
decided to do a story and I quite
liked it, the sight of those 200
happy faces. I came the next year
and the year after that, till now, 28
years.
Q: How do you spend your timein India and what places do youvisit? Derek: I come to India for 9
weeks in the winter and stay in
Rishi Valley for 5 weeks and spend
the remainder of my time at the
other KFI schools (The School
,Rajghat School, Sayadhri and The
Valley School).
As I was coming to Rishi Valley so
often Radhika Akka suggested that
I build a cottage here, I did and
now it is known as Derek’s
Cottage.
INTERVIEW WITH DEREK
Q:What is it about K’sphilosophy that appeals to you?Derek: I had attended a talk at
Brockwood Park (a KFI school
there) by Krishnamurthi where I
briefly met and interacted with
him. Krishnamurthi’s ideas
resonated with my own, specially
about how thought works, and
how it is disruptive in some areas
and constructive in others.
Q: Other than story telling whatare your other interests? Derek:I am very much interested and
good at cooking. In fact , I have
my own establishment in UK, a
restaurant that serves vegetarian
food. I am also interested in
music, I play an assortment of
musical instruments like acoustic
drums, cymbals and of course the
hand pan that you are so familiar
with.
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
I have attended performances by
the legendary percussionist Zakir
Hussain in the UK and (ironically)
Dave Holland in Mumbai.
The place where I live, Yewfield, a
beautiful lake district in the north
of England, holds the annual
Ambleside Music Festival where
musicians and poets from all over
the world come to perform. This
passion for music led me to meet
and become friends with Mike
who has come to perform at one
of my theatres.
He showed a picture of his house
and guesthouse and I could not
help but comment on the lovely
interior design; he told me that
interior design was another of his
interests.
Aatreya
Derek's Cottage
At nineteen , Atul Sir learnt how to
make soap from an NGO called
Gandhi Gram Trust in Tamil Nadu
while doing his B-Tech. The
learning experience made him
realise that his true passion lay in
making handmade products that
are well received by the masses.
However, times were such that it
was ideally expected of young
adults to take up conventional
desk jobs. This put a halt to Atul
Sir’s ventures in hands-on
manufacturing of products. Years
after this incident, in 2016, he
finally had the opportunity to
resume his passion. When
the new design and Technology
department came up, he saw
greater potential in expanding his
small soap making venture.
While Atul Sir had a soft spot for
soap making , Design and
Technology students Dyuti and
Rhea had a different inspiration.
The sheer amount of plastic waste
created from cosmetics like
shampoos and soaps alarmed
them. Hence they envisaged the
making of a soap cum shampoo
bar with minimal packaging.
This common motive inspired the
three of them to embark upon the
soap making journey. There were
quite a few challenges on the way ,
which had to be carefully
addressed. When a bar of soap for
both hair and body is desired , it
has to perform both cleansing and
moisturising functions , which
happen to be opposing
tendencies. To address this, a
specific blend of different oils had
to be taken to make the soap.
After having made three batches
of soap, receiving feedback from
the students and tweaking the
SIMPLY SABUN
percentages of the oils, an ideal
mixture was formulated,
comprising of coconut oil for
cleansing and lather, rice bran
and sunflower oil for conditioning
,olive oil for moisturising and
neem oil for anti-bacterial
properties.
The soaps are made via the cold
process which requires the soap
to be cured for a minimum of four
weeks. To make the distribution
process more convenient , surveys
had been taken from the students
and staff regarding the demand of
the soaps. The surveys showed
that around 300–400 bars of soap
were required to be made in a
month, which meant around 70 to
100 soaps had to be made per
week. According to that, a
production rhythm was created.
The name ‘Simply Sabun’ was
finalised after great thought. It
was named so for the sole reason
that the product is inherently
simple.
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J ANUARY 2 0 2 0 • VO LUME 1 I S S U E NO . 3
It contains no exotic oils or
butters, everything is locally
available and the whole process
is handmade at home. It is a non-
profit production and is charged
directly through individual Rishi
Valley accounts. This ensures that
the businesses of various SHG
groups such as Marichettu
remain unaffected. After rigorous
costing and calculations, a final
value of Rs 32 for the Basil soap
and Rs 42 for the Lemon Grass
soap has been reached.
Overall, this soap making project
has been thoroughly satisfying for
both the producers and
consumers. It is unfortunate to
see that many of us today have
lost the art of making things with
our bare hands, as we are so used
to purchasing commercialised
products. Small student - teacher
initiatives such as this is what
makes life a tad bit more
enriching, and this entire journey
so special.
-Madhura